Loyalty vs. Betrayal When does betrayal look like loyalty and vice versa? Who can your character trust? Can a character be loyal to someone as he or she is betraying that person? Can loyalty be an act of betrayal?

Ally vs. Enemy How does the character’s view of “good” and “evil” shift or change? Who is hiding what? Who is working behind the character’s back for good or ill? How does the character work against him or her self?

Pursuer vs. Pursued What is the character running after and what is he or she running from? How does this change or reverse itself?

Truth vs. Lie How does the “truth” move and morph depending on perspective, or new or reinterpreted information? What is really the truth, how does the truth shift or change depending on shifting perceptions? What is delusion, what is misleading and what is outright active deception?

Desire to Suspect vs. Need to Trust How does the character wrestle with suspicion, paranoia, and the aftereffects of betrayal or seeming betrayal? Can your character fully know the heart of anyone? Can your character fully trust him or her self? Can anyone ever be 100% certain of anyone or anything?

Illusion vs. Reality What is real and what is a set-up, a lie, misinformation, a conspiracy, a delusion, or hidden below the surface of things? How much of perception is preconception, prejudice, ignorance, naivety, pretense, paranoia, duplicity, trickery, or a set up?

Certainty vs. Uncertainty What can be pinned down, proven and quantified, and what will always have an element of the unknown, the mysterious, or the unexplained? Is anyone ever all “good” or all “bad”? How does the character deal with moral ambiguity, shifting perceptions, or shades of gray? Isn’t every situation a shade of gray? Aren’t all people combinations of good and evil?

All great Power of Truth stories — mysteries, thrillers, suspense, and detective stories answer these key questions.

The character moments were my favorite parts of the movie because, I confess, the 3-D gave me a splitting headache and the action scenes go on a tad long for my personal taste.

The movie begins with the premise that humanity will be annihilated if Loki, the bitter banished demigod, opens a hole in space to let in an invading mechanized army. Loki is adopted, hates his brother, Thor, and wants to destroy the earth Thor loves and protects.

This crisis brings together the reluctant Avengers teammates.  Each portrays his or her Character Type with nearly pitch perfect attitude and dialogue.

Loki is a Power of Idealism demi-god villain:  Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and these Character Types believe they are meant for some kind of heroic destiny.

He says: I am Loki, of Asgard. And I am burdened with glorious purpose.

These characters are “divas” and want to be seen as special, unique, and extraordinary– something out of reach for Loki, who is always in the shadow of his more perfect “brother” Thor.  It was Thor who got all the glory and Loki is furious about that. A bit of dialogue says it all–

Tony Stark: Loki wants everyone to see what he’s doing.

Steve Rogers: Yeah, I caught his act at Stuttengard.

Tony Stark: That was a preview, this will be opening night. Loki’s a full-fledged diva, everything’s got to be about him. He wants a parade, flowers, anything that’ll bring in an audience. He needs someplace where everyone can see it’s him and he’s doing it, somewhere where his name is up in lights!

Thor is a  Power of Love demigod:  Thor (Chris Hemsworth) uses his strength and power to care for and protect the earth.  Despite everything, he still is attached to his adoptive brother, Loki, as evidenced in the following exchange:

Bruce Banner: I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him.

Thor: Have a care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother.

Natasha Romanoff: He killed eighty people in two days.

Thor: He’s adopted.

Thor is the son of Gaea, the nurturing mother earth herself. In his comic book backstory Thor is a caring doctor, Donald Black, who is willing to defy the might of Asgard for the woman he loves.  Power of Love characters are incredibly strong characters and are ferociously unstoppable when something they love and care for is in threatened.

Iron Man is a Power of Excitement man-made superhero in his mechanized suit:  In his own words he is Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. In addition, he’s a jokester and an agent of chaos, who loves to stir things up. He’d especially like to see the Hulk get unleashed.

He says: “Dr. Banner, your work is unparalleled. And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”

Stark speaks frequently in the movie about escape or wanting to escape. Steve Rogers, Captain America, chides him for that saying Stark doesn’t have it in him to make the “sacrifice play” that puts others first. Tony Stark’s rakish push-the-envelop devil-may-care attitude continually presses everyone’s buttons in the story, but his charm, ready wit, and natural talent as an improvisor helps save the day.

Captain American is a Power of Conscience government laboratory experiment turned superhero: Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a super-soldier who believes in following rules, following orders, and the importance of the chain of command.  He can seem a little stiff and humorless at times but he is 100%  reliable, trustworthy, and always puts the good of the team first. The difference between Rogers and Stark is summed up in this exchange:

Steve Rogers: We have orders, we should follow them.

Tony Stark: Following’s not really my style.

Steve Rogers: And you’re all about style, aren’t you?

Tony Stark: Of the people in this room, which one is A – wearing a spangly outfit and B – not of much use?

Stark surprises Rogers at the climax. And Rogers learns to improvise more, following Stark’s example.

The Hulk is a Power of Will gamma ray experiment gone-wrong superhero:  Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), in his Hulk state, is all angry impulse. He is primitive. He’s strong. He is a mass of instinctual drives and impulses that only finds satisfaction in “Hulk smash!”  In his normal human state Banner controls his anger enough to be a protector (as a doctor in remote India) rather than a destroyer. But his raw uncontrollable instinctual side is never far away.

Steve Rogers: Doc… I think now is the perfect time for you to get angry.

Bruce Banner: That’s my secret Cap, I’m always angry.

The Black Widow is a Power of Truth super-spy: Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) doesn’t have super powers per se but she is as skilled a warrior as any of her other Avengers teammates. She lives in a spy vs. spy world that is filled with hidden dangers, secretive enemies, and concealed pitfalls. With the Black Widow– “Things are never what they seem.” “Trust no one.” “Question everything.” “Watch out for secret agendas and hidden pitfalls.” Just when an adversary thinks she is most vulnerable she is actually conducting a brilliant and treacherous interrogation.

Hawkeye is a Power of Reason ultra-expert archer:  Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) is a loner and a bit alienated, the perfect combination for his backstory and continuing role as sniper. He is a cold and calculating and spends the first half of the movie under the mind control of Loki.

There isn’t time for very much character development in The Avengers, but what there is is spot on.  Each hero is absolutely true to his or her Character Types in both word and deed. When every bit of dialogue and action has to count as character development, the Character Types will help you be as economical and on target as the characters here.

Michael Ondaatje:  I spent six years writing the book, The English Patient, the last two years of which were spent creating the only structure I thought it could have. So to turn around and dismantle that structure and put the head where the tail was… There’s no way I could have been objective and known what should go, what should stay.

WD:  Were you involved in the initial script development?

MO:  Quite a lot. Anthony Minghella, Saul Zaentz and I met every time there was a draft, and I think we worked well and adventurously together. The script felt “new,” and was not a “shadow” of the book. Because all three of us were working on something new it was a much more exciting project. I was amazed, right from the beginning, how Anthony got the voices, when Barnes meets Katherine and says, “Of course, I know your mother,” that sense of class knowledge of each other was caught perfectly. In any case, each time there was a new draft, we would meet up. It was a real education in terms of how a script gets tighter and tighter. Film is much tougher. I don’t think I could write a great chapter and then give it up because of the book’s overall time limitations, as you sometimes must do with entire scenes in film. That’s like a bad joke for a writer.

WD:  I run into so many people who, when they hear I’m involved with the film, say, “Oh, I loved the book.” And I get this sinking feeling, not out of disrespect to the movie, but that somehow they’re not going to see the book, not even a version of the book. They’ll see something that grew out of it.

MO: I feel the film has become something quite distinct, with its own DNA.

Read the full article HERE

First of all, let me say what an inspiring range of talent there is in the region.  The films were all very different and had a wonderful local sense of place combined with the potential universal emotional appeal that gives a film “legs.”

This isn’t to say there weren’t challenges to overcome in the stories and characters in the films discussed.

Here are three key take-aways about common issues that make a film project less effective and less emotionally compelling.

CONFLICT

No matter how poetic, beautiful, or inspired the visuals in a film are, without conflict you don’t have a story.

There are three levels of conflict–

External conflict (obstacles presented by the physical environment or terrain, the weather, the society or culture, or any other obstacle presented by the larger external world of the story)

Relationship conflict (conflict or opposition between the people or creatures in the story)

Internal conflict (conflict within a character– the personal or psychological obstacles the character struggles with inside him or her self).

The Internal conflict drives the other two kinds of conflict.  By this I mean how a character deals with any challenge, opportunity, or threat depends on who they are emotionally.  Emotion always drives action.

CONSISTENT OVERALL TONE

A film’s tone should be consistent and yet surprising.  The film can and should have ups and downs, shifts and reversals, and comic or dramatic turnarounds.  But the story should an overall tone that works as an underlying point of view about the story world.

If a film is a black comedy then the ending must be funny in an ironic way or end in a sharp or biting comic twist.  You don’t want to end a warm romantic comedy with a sad, ironic, or scathing twist at the end.  Nor do you want to end a sharp dark comedy with a moment of emotional violins.

Be careful that shifts in tone fit a consistent comic or dramatic sensibility.  Comedy must, of course, have moment of drama or pathos and drama must have moments of humor or absurdity.  But reversals in tone should not be confusing, jarring, or pull the audience emotionally out of the story.

FOCUS

Detail makes for a rich story world.  Avoid details that only complicate the story plot. Strip away all details that don’t support the main character’s emotional journey.

Audiences love SIMPLE stories about COMPLEX emotions.  Complex stories about simple emotions are confusing.  There is a great difference between what is complex (consisting of many different but connected parts) and what is confusing (extraneous information that is bewildering or difficult to follow).

I find that no matter how experienced or talented a filmmaker is he or she has to keep returning to the basics in every project. It’s so easy to forget the key tenets– we all need to be reminded of what is fundamental in each new story.

The train from Bergen to Oslo is considered one of the most spectacular in all of Europe-- and I wholeheartedly agree. The train literally runs over the top of the mountains where there is snow nearly all year.

As you ride the train it's hard to tell where the mountains end and the clouds begin. At times we were actually traveling through the clouds and they drifted in streams past the window.

Magnificent scenery all around.

Amazing rocks, rivers and waterfalls. The trip lasts about seven hours and goes by in a flash.

Many ferries ply the smooth waters of Norway's fjords. In some remote communities the ferries are the only links to the outside world.

Preparing to board the ferry. It will turn out to be a five hour boat trip through some of the most magnificent scenery imaginable. The pictures that follow don't do the landscape justice!

Pulling away from Bergen on the ferry. The charming and friendly town as seen from the water.

Other boats plying the fjord. Water traffic is a key mode of transport for goods, materials, and people.

Passed lots of lovely homes and farms located in sparse settlements along the fjord.

Wind-blown on the deck of the ferry. Gorgeous day but very windy!

Snow capped mountains and glaciers lining the fjord along the ferry route.

Up close snowy mountains seen from the ferry deck.

Balcony off my hotel room at Ullensvang and one view of fjord. I had almost a 360 view of mountains and fjord from my very beautiful room.

Another mountain view from my room window.

Final hotel room view- also from balcony.

Building on hotel grounds.

The summer hut where famous composer Grieg worked and wrote on the hotel grounds.

About 200 people at the Film Summit. Nearly that many at my Character Map Class. For those of you who missed it a link to the eBook http://www.etbscreenwriting.com/products-page/e-books/the-character-map/

Participants took a field trip to Odda one of the first industrial factories in the world. Now vacant and in planning stages to be a film studio.

Dinner for 200 at the enormous hydro-electric plant which once powered the factory.

Goodby Hotel Ullensvang

I arrived in Bergen, Norway and am staying at a hotel overlooking the water and mountains–

April 16, 2012

Tech Check at the venue– the large local cinema in Bergen.  Very nice facility and wonderful tech guys who ensured all would run smoothly.  Even set me up with wifi access. Then More walks around the city.

April 17, 2012

Workshop day.  Had a nice crowd.  Enjoyed the questions and discussion.  More walks around the city.

View out the window over the water from my hotel room. Same view from the hotel dinning room.

My cure for jet lag is to sleep on the plane as much as possible and then walk in the sun on arrival. I had a very lovely tour guide from the organization sponsoring the workshop showing me the sights. We walked all along the harbor area.

Charming buildings in the downtown area near my hotel.

Buildings built and lived in by German fish-workers. They were segregated at the time. The buildings burned down and were rebuilt in 709 AD-- that's not a typo-- these buildings were built in the 8th century!

Sculpture celebrating dried fish, a traditional Norwegian diet staple

Traveled up the mountain on the funicular. Gorgeous views of the city below. Had lunch at the restaurant at the top. Wonderful mushroom soup.

Bergen houses feature these adorable tin buckets filled with spring flowers. They are simply hung on hooks near the door. This shot filled with pansies is one of my favorites.

Sculpture on the street of a homeless kid. The description says something like "no one is exactly as they seem." Several other sculptures around town of people leaning against buildings or standing in random places. Also enjoying the art in the hotel by local artists depicting landscapes, cityscapes, sports, and modern folk art.

Another great row of commercial buildings.

Sculpture of famous fictional Norwegian detective, who lived in Bergen, Varg Veum-- Producer friends made about 8 movies of the novel series.

Dinner in a famous local restaurant. Delicious fresh halibut.

Large standing polar bear in restaurant but not on the menu. A relic of days gone by.

Goodbye Bergen-- Great hospitality & great new friends. On to the ferry and the Western Norway Film Summit.

Young Adult fiction and subsequent movie adaptations have been a saving grace for Hollywood over the last few years.  Box office blockbusters based on the Twilight series and The Hunger Games series have smashed opening weekend records as the books topped the best seller charts.

I thought it would be interesting to compare the characters in the two series and analyze how each story works. The material on The Hunger Games is excerpted from my upcoming book on thrillers, mysteries and suspense stories. These are all Power of Truth stories.

The Hunger Games is a classic Power of Truth Story and protagonist, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), is a picture perfect Power of Truth Character Type.

Power of Truth stories deal with secrets, lies, conspiracies, what is hidden or concealed, and the larger issues or covert agendas that are secretly manipulating the story world and the characters in it.

In The Hunger Games, the Capitol government runs an annual televised reality show featuring young contestants who fight to the death.  The fighters are recruited in an involuntary “reaping” from each district. The games are a way to keep the districts separate and in adversarial competition with each other.

The reality show set is electronically generated– it is a manufactured 3-D world that doesn’t really exist. The conditions, terrain, rules, and contestants are secretly manipulated to generate the most interesting show and to covertly target contestants the Capitol favors or dislikes.

The games are a living metaphor for how the Capitol manipulates and punishes or rewards the various districts on a larger scale. Nothing is what it seems. Boundaries in the Panem district states are artificial and arbitrary. There are hidden traps and pitfalls everywhere. The Capitol sees everything but reveals only what is useful to control the population.

Power of Truth stories also chronicle the most profound and personal betrayals. The story twists and reversals eventually change everything the character believes is true.

During the reality show, contestants in The Hunger Games form temporary alliances, knowing there can only be one victor. Every one is suspect.  No one can be trusted. Each contestant tries to use others to his or her own advantage. It is a cut-throat world where loyalty is a ploy and betrayal is the norm.

These kinds of stories explore the very nature of loyalty and betrayal and whether it is ever possible to know or understand the complex mysteries of the human heart. Sometimes loyalty looks like betrayal in the series.  And sometimes betrayal looks like loyalty.

Katniss Everdeen volunteers in her much younger sister’s place at the annual reaping. Like most Power of Truth Protagonists, Katniss is cautious, wary, and deeply suspicious of everyone and everything. She can be combative and impulsive, shooting an arrow through an apple at the skills demonstration. The apple is in a roasted pig’s mouth in the middle of a feast for the sponsors. Katniss is impatient with the group’s lack of attention.  She can also be silent and withdrawn, keeping her own counsel, watching and waiting, and playing her cards close to the vest.

Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), the other contestant from her district, is chosen involuntarily at the reaping. He is scared but seemingly unnaturally happy to be accompanying Katniss. Early on he declares he has been in love with her from afar since they were very young children.

Katniss can’t be sure Peeta’s declaration of love isn’t some kind of ploy to gain advantage or trick her.  Early on in the games he seems to be working against her. Then he saves her and later is willing to die with her and for her. Still, she isn’t clear about her feelings for Peeta.  Chronic self-doubting and second guessing are trouble traits for a Power of Truth character. These characters don’t fully trust anyone and don’t even trust themselves.

Complicating matters is Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), the hunting partner who has helped Katniss save her family from starvation in the district.  Katniss has strong feelings for Gale and feels a profound loyalty to him. This makes her doubly question her feelings for Peeta.

Gale is a Power of Conscience character and becomes key in the revolution against the Capitol in later books.  Power of Conscience characters are often moral crusaders.  They fall to the Dark Side when they become willing to use any means necessary to promote their cause.  Gale does this when he plans an attack on innocents to help publicize and spread the revolution. He is willing to betray anything and anyone for the greater good of the cause.

The Hunger Games creates a rich, complex Power of Truth world.  The characters have amazing external conflicts and obstacles (in the treacherous and shifting world of the games), they have intense relationship conflicts (filled with powerful issues of  loyalty and betrayal) and they have deep internal conflict struggling between what they want and what they need (and the complex mysteries of love, loss, and hope). For more on Power of Truth stories and characters CLICK HERE

Twilight is a much simpler Power of Love story featuring far less complex characters.  Power of Love stories are about lovers or partners who appear to be antagonistic, opposites, or entirely inappropriate for each other. The adversarial partners not only manage to bring out the worst in each other but also the best. The lovers grow and change through the conflict and questions in their relationship. How much must I change to accommodate you? How far can I compromise before I lose myself?

In Twilight, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is a high-school girl who falls in love with a 104 year old vampire, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).  He is powerfully attracted to her but fears he or his family will harm her. Bella’s blood is sweetly irresistible.

Bella’s love and her confidence in Edward’s restraint is unshakable.  She  refuses to heed his repeated warnings to stay away from him. She stumbles into harms way several times but Edward always swoops in to save her. As a result, when Edward leaves her, Bella seeks out danger to attract his attention.

Bella is a Power of Love character. Throughout the series she is willing to risk injury, death, and the loss of her immortal soul to be with Edward.  When he hurts her while making love to her as a human, Bella refuses to be deterred and wants him to make love to her again.  When she almost dies carrying his child she refuses to save herself and get an abortion. She is so damaged by the birth that finally there is no choice but to turn her into a vampire or surrender her to death. Bella does almost all of the changing and accommodating.

Power of Love characters see their own value reflected in the eyes of their love object. Their philosophy might be stated: “I am nothing without you.” (”And you are nothing without me.”)

Power of Love characters believe the way to get love and keep love is to be helpful, useful, loving, kind and, above all, necessary to the other person. They fear that if you don’t put others first you won’t have good relationships. If you don’t have close personal relationships, then life isn’t worth living. Bella always puts Edward first, over her safety and over her life itself. For more on Power of Love characters CLICK HERE

Edward Cullen is a Power of Idealism character. He is a poetic, musical, and sensitive young man who is in love with someone forbidden to him.  This longing for what one cannot have is a hallmark of a Power of Idealism character. In contrast, Bella always believes they will eventually be together.  Edward’s appearance, scent, and voice are enormously seductive to Bella, so much so that he occasionally mesmerizes her by accident. She becomes even more compliant and swooning.  Edward’s intensity and his rebellious, slightly dangerous, nature is also typical of Power of Idealism characters. For more on Power of Idealism characters CLICK HERE

Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), a shape-shifting member of a local Indian tribe, also competes for Bella’s love.  He is a Power of Conscience character.  He is a fierce defender of what is right and what is traditional. Yet he overcomes his tribe’s hostility to vampires to come to Bella’s aid even after he is rejected by her.  Power of Conscience characters feel a profound sense of responsibility and duty toward others. They value what is the fair, honest, and decent thing to do. For more on Power of Conscience character CLICK HERE

Unlike The Hunger Game, which fully explores Power of Truth territory and deals with many complex levels of conflict, Twilight falls short in creating a well articulated conflict-driven Power of Love story.  Here are the Twilight series shortcoming as I see them:

1. Love interests in a romance should take an instant dislike, have a deep distrust, or be separated by major philosophical, or personal differences. Love interests should have opposite world views and views on what life and love is or should be. They should not agree on anything. Their values should be diametrically opposed. Bella is immediately attracted to Edward and he to her. The forbidden nature of their love story in Twilight has to do only with physical or external differences rather than deep  differences in values, philosophy, or world view.

2. Both love interests must grow or change through their relationship with one another. Something profound should be missing in each love interest’s life, character, and/or personality. This missing piece is an important personal deficiency leading to overall unhappiness. The problem isn’t just that the character is missing someone to love. It should be key to his or her genuine difficulties in life. Nothing, other than love, is missing in either Bella’s or Edward’s personality or character. Neither character needs the other to grow or change.  Bella simply wears Edward down in her insistence to become a vampire. Her transformation is almost entirely physical.  Edward has little real transformation at all.

3.  In order for a love story to work well the lovers have to overcome obstacles on three levels.

a) The external forces, that keep the lovers apart (i.e. differences in culture, class, status, ethnicity, race, gender, age, religion, or social convention). Twilight gets this right and a human and vampire union is strictly forbidden. It is punishable by death.

b) The conflict with others, that keeps the lovers apart. There is some resistance from Edward’s family but it is fairly easily overcome. There is no real resistance from her own family, because her father is generally unaware of the Cullen family’s heritage.

c) The internal forces, that prevent the lovers from getting together (internal values that make each lover question and reject the initial advances that each receives from the other). This most important obstacle is entirely missing in Twilight. The focus is almost entirely on the physical external difficulties. There is nothing within Bella that makes her struggle with her choice.  Edward struggles more internally but again his dilemma mostly revolves around the vampire-human conundrum.

Romances work best when there is a strong personal impediment posed by a relationship with an appropriate mate. An appropriate mate is a person who, for a variety of external reasons, SHOULD be a perfect match but isn’t.  Jacob also vies for Bella’s love but he’s not a perfect external match (being a shape-shifter) and he is a much weaker contender than Edward. Early on in the first book Jacob is not fully realized as a character. He becomes more important in later books but never stands a credible chance of winning Bella.

In Moonstruck, a near perfect romance, the above three elements work wonderfully. Cher (Power of Love) is no-nonsense, practical, caring, and responsible about all her obligations. This is demonstrated in the opening scenes where she visits her bookkeeping clients. She is so practical she is about to settle for a man she doesn’t love but who is a solid member of the community. During a very unromantic proposal he tells her: “You take care of me.” What she needs is passion, inspiration, and the fiery spark of life.

Nickolas Cage (Power of Idealism) has passion and fire to the extreme. He needs someone to provide more of a stable base and an even keel. He needs to let go of his nearly operatic anger and bitterness and move on in his life. The two lovers challenge and learn from each other. Their exchange of gifts makes each a better, more well-rounded, and complete person.

In a classic love story two imperfect halves come together to form a more perfect whole. Each character brings something that is vitally necessary to the other’s overall well-being and completeness. That critical exchange of gifts is obtained through clash and conflict with the love interest.

Nevertheless the Twilight characters are well enough drawn to compel readers.  Emotion and character development pretty much always trumps plot and story structure, in my view.  That said– The Hunger Games has completely eclipsed Twilight at the box office and on the best seller list. The Hunger Games series has great characters and a rich, complex, well realized Power of Truth story structure—that is an unbeatable combination.

Having problems with your story? Read How to Evaluate Stories and find your story problems and fix them fast. CLICK HERE

Laurie Hutzler’s handy primer is the result of ten years of teaching at the UCLA Film School and consulting on stories across the globe – from Academy Award winning movies to hit television series and popular novels. Anyone who has to evaluate stories will want to keep it on their desk as a ready reference.

See what others have to say here.

“This little book is so packed with story wisdom it is mind boggling.”
—Meg LeFauve, producer, screenwriter, former President of Jodie Foster’s Egg Pictures

“This little book is so packed with story wisdom it is mind boggling. Each concise suggestion is so clear and — easy —and yet as you apply them to your work, they will continue to open up and deepen in your understanding. These are the great film story tenants that the best storytellers—and executives!—know and work from. Read it, learn it, use it, because these checklists are packed with a story punch that will get you way ahead of the pack.”

—Meg LeFauve, producer, screenwriter, former President of Jodie Foster’s Egg Pictures

“Laurie’s storytelling techniques have shaved HOURS off of my work day and off of the script development process. I’ve been able to apply her lessons to film, television and even advertising projects. I wish every writer, director and ad industry professional would buy this book.”

—Bernadette Rivero, President of The Cortez Brothers production and multi-platform content company

“This is an excellent guide for any new and existing writer or producer to have by their side as they embark on a project. It gives a really clear reminder of what is vital for success”.

—Naomi Joseph, Executive Director of International Scripted Programming, Endemol Group, London

“It’s a great little guide, very useful, and dripping with truth. The creative process can be messy, murky, and bewildering, but Laurie’s short, precise story guide shines enough light for all to see.”

—Nick Malmholt, screenwriter and former Head of Drama, FremantleMedia Worldwide Drama

“This is the most comprehensive overview of screenwriting I’ve read. Why read 100 pages of some other writer’s journey when you get what you need in just a few pages? This is a quick amazing read. Don’t spend your time reading while you are trying to write.”

— Jamison Reeves, actor, writer, director

“Though I’ve written almost twenty screenplays, after reading Laurie’s How To Evaluate Stories book, I hurried to revise a treatment I’d just written. I’ll go back to this book again and again, each time I start a script, because Laurie’s clear, concise concepts about what makes a good script and a good story are dead on. This book would be helpful to any writer, novice or veteran. I highly recommend it.”

— Lisanne Sartor, screenwriter and CineStory Board President

“This is SO great and useful! It’s amazing how it dovetails with some truths I’m coming to learn about my own character as I move through the crises in my own life. I’m gonna keep it right on my desk because it reminds me WHY we write and fuels my passion for it. Having read it and used it, it’s a steal for the price.”

— Rita Augustine, screenwriter

“Laurie Hutzler’s How to Evaluate Stories is an invaluable resource for any filmmaker who wants to thoroughly “interrogate” their script, asking the tough questions. If you’re serious about telling a compelling story, one that grabs the audience and refuses to let go, read this eBook…Now!”

—Derrick Pete

“It is sound for every screenwriter to collect second opinions on a finished draft. In most cases, though, we do not get the advice we need. What we do get instead is other peoples´ version of our story. Laurie Hutzler´s concise book How To Evaluate Stories enables us to detect potential flaws ourselves.”

—Wieland Bauder, screenwriter, university teacher DffB Berlin Film School